


Kimono

by bookwyrmling



Series: xxxHOLiCHalloween Week 2015 [4]
Category: xxxHoLic
Genre: Canon, Gen, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 22:06:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6725359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookwyrmling/pseuds/bookwyrmling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If everything was inevitable, then Haruka would at least make sure that those he cared for were prepared for it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kimono

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 7 of the Tumblr xxxHOLiCHalloween Week.
> 
> Prompt: Superstition

Doumeki Haruka saw a lot. Much more than any regular person. He saw spirits and he saw threads. He saw fates and realities beyond what any mortal eye should. Doumeki Haruka saw dreams. In those dreams he saw events yet to come and people he would never met. He saw a store that granted wishes and, in the waking world, met the woman with red eyes and long black hair who ran it. They chatted and smoked and flirted. They shared experiences and knowledge and, the one time they did meet in dreams, Yuuko asked him to take care of someone dear to her. He met that precious boy with glasses and more problems than solutions, but his existence was one Haruka would never meet awake, though they were lives yet tied together. He watched his grandson grow and face a world so few knew of. He saw good dreams and sold them to the Yumekai. He saw bad dreams, as well, and he planned for when he would no longer be around to help.

“Father, I really don’t think it’s necessary. Isn’t the name enough? He’ll end up teased horribly once he starts going to school and the doctors said he’ll grow out of it.”

Haruka finished setting out a girl’s kimono made for a toddler as he looked down at his grandson. “It will help him grow stronger,” he argued with his son before reaching out for the little boy. “Shizuka, you want to be stronger, right? And play more with friends?”

Shizuka did not answer, staring at the bright pattern on the kimono and living up to his name too well.

“Like I told you, Father, he’ll only end up teased. This isn’t the era you grew up in anymore! Even I had a hard time with this girly name! We agreed to go with your suggestion of Shizuka for peace, but this is too much.”

“For the sake of what is to come,” Haruka spoke with a firm voice and hard eyes, “This much is necessary.” Ignoring further complaints, Haruka turned fully to his grandson and smiled. “Shizuka, there are lots of scary things in the world. If you wear these clothes, you will grow strong enough to fight them. To protect important people.”

“Father! Don’t fill his mind with that-!”

“Yuka, you will remain quiet.” And the man did, indeed, shut his mouth before stomping out of the room with a grumble about Shino’s retribution.

“Shizuka,” Haruka spoke again, knowing the temple’s miko would do no such thing, “Do you want to be strong? Your body, your heart and your mind?”

The young boy, entranced by the bright colors and his grandfather’s words, reached out for the kimono and grasped the sleeve in his hand. Haruka smiled and nodded before shifting the boy into a more comfortable position in his lap. “Shizuka,” he said, “I have a lot of stories to teach you and not a lot of time, so, for that boy’s sake and yours, make sure you listen well.”


End file.
